At least 14 people, all women, have died and more than 80 have been injured in the collision between two trains on Monday night at the train station in Bekasi city, about 20 kilometers from the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, as reported this Tuesday by the state railway company PT KAI. Indonesian authorities have confirmed that the evacuation of passengers has concluded, after previously reporting that there were people trapped in the damaged carriages of the convoys involved in the incident.
The accident occurred late on Monday when a commuter train and a long-distance train collided, Karina Amanda, a spokesperson for the commuter line operating company, told Reuters news agency.
A women-only carriage received the main impact of the crash, which explains why all fatalities are female, explained Mohammad Syafii, director of Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS). This official added that several survivors were trapped among the wreckage of the trains. Rescuers had to cut through the tangled metal to rescue them.
Bobby Rasyidin, executive director of Indonesia’s state railway company, PT KAI, later explained at a press conference that the commuter train first collided with a taxi obstructing the tracks, before the long-distance convoy impacted that first train.
After visiting the injured in a hospital in Bekasi, the country’s president, Prabowo Subianto, announced the construction of a vehicle overpass to help resolve the area’s severe traffic congestion. The president assured that authorities will investigate the collision and acknowledged the poor maintenance of Indonesia’s railway network.
Read more Umbrellas on sale to renew your garden or terrace this spring
Meanwhile, this Tuesday, relatives of train passengers were still searching for their families. Some had gone to Bekati station. A survivor of the accident who spoke to Reuters, Heriyati, explained that she initially intended to use the women-only carriage but opted to board the one immediately behind it. She was on the phone with her husband, asking him to pick her up at the station when the collision occurred. “I hadn’t even finished the call when the trains collided,” the woman stated.
Commuter trains are a widely used means of transport in Jakarta, the world’s most populous city, with 42 million inhabitants by the end of 2025, according to United Nations data. The majority of its users are working-class people.
Transport experts have criticized the country’s outdated railway network and have also recommended separating the tracks for long-distance and commuter trains, which currently run on the same rails.
Read more Traveling to Chile: a unique tour through the best landscapes with EL PAÍS Viajes